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Based on Fenollosa's pioneering research in the Far East, this is an indispensable introduction to the history and aesthetics of Chinese and Japanese art, with somewhat less detailed coverage of Korea and Tibet. Although it was originally published before the archeological excavations of the Shang and Chou sites, it remains the best survey of Pr... more »e-20th Century Oriental art, presenting a clearly organized historical background that is a must for beginning students or for the art students planning further study.

Professor Fenollosa was the founder of the modern study of Chinese and Japanese art, rescuing it from traditional attitudes that had ignored it or had ascribed it only a minor importance. He showed that there was a historical evolution that could, and should, be studied, and, in this important book, the history he "discovered" was made available to the West for the first time. The results have never been surpassed, for the author had an unparalleled opportunity to study Asia while the ways he was examining were still alive, not quite submerged beneath Western influences. Largely because of this, he was able to get at the philosophical backgrounds of Far Eastern art, to trace the political and social influences on its development and the religious and other ideological factors that effected the directions it took. Even today, this book remains the finest study of this important background, revealing as does no other book, the important interrelationships between the art of China and Japan and their historical sociology. The periods and styles it sets up to systematize the study of Oriental art history are still valid, as are the voluminous details it unfolds on artistic accomplishment and philosophy from the Ch'in Dynasty on.

This enduring study that ranks as a major contribution to our modern understanding of Oriental art. It is also a fascinating cultural study that is a model of its kind. Brilliantly written, it is easily followed even by lay readers, for it is full of the enthusiasm of a man who has something new and exciting to relate. In fact, it is the best written book ever published on the subject, a uniquely pleasurable source of essential historical and philosophical material on Chinese and Japanese art.